Vice, Guardian content deal

Youth media company and content creation studio Vice and the UK publisher the Guardian have struck a new content partnership that will provide Vice with access to original investigative news reporting from a unit of dedicated Guardian journalists, and the Guardian with access to Vice’s video production skills, distribution platform and a young engaged audience.

The partnership will include co-branded special reports that will air across Vice’s news offerings, including Vice News Tonight, Vice and HBO’s new nightly news programme and Emmy award-winning weekly news magazine series Vice on HBO, and Vice Specials, the hour-long tent-pole documentary series for HBO.

Vice and the Guardian will also collaborate on the development of new video formats across genres and platforms – from informational TV shows, to investigative mini-series, specialty mobile-first media products, feature documentaries and virtual reality storytelling.

Vice Media’s Co-Founder and CEO, Shane Smith, said: “When I was a young man studying political science, my International Politics professor told me to get a Guardian subscription because it was ‘the best news in the world’. I have had one ever since. This partnership provides a test case for the way forward in multi-platform exploitation of content. And when that content is the foremost investigative news in the business it becomes even more imperative. Real, fact-based, trusted news has never been more important and this partnership, I am very excited to say, will provide just that.”

“From the NSA revelations and the Panama papers to the phone hacking scandal, the Guardian‘s agenda-setting reporting has set the bar for the highest standards of investigative journalism and holding global institutions to account,” said Josh Tyrangiel, Vice’s EVP of Content, News. “We’re thrilled to be bringing together their unparalleled nose for great stories with Vice News’ award-winning video-driven storytelling for young audiences.”

Katharine Viner, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media, said: “Guardian journalism has never been more relevant or in demand. This partnership recognises the Guardian and Vice as pioneers in digital news and underscores our commitment to using video to open up our journalism in new and interesting ways.”

David Pemsel, CEO, Guardian Media Group, added: “Partnering with Vice is testament to our strategy to innovate on a global scale to maximise both the revenue potential and impact of our journalism. We’re really excited about this opportunity to do just that whilst building further awareness of the Guardian brand both in the US and amongst valuable millennial audiences.”

Working out of Vice’s London newsroom, a team of Guardian journalists, led by the Guardian’s multimedia news editor, Mustafa Khalili, will work side-by-side with Vice News producers and development executives on developing this original content.

Ahead of the nightly show’s launch, Vice News appointed Neil Breakwell as London Bureau Chief. Breakwell, who arrived from BBC Newsnight, where he served as Deputy Editor, has since expanded Vice News’ UK operation, bringing in a number of new hires to join the existing team of writers, producers, editors and shooters.

Vice News Tonight builds on the success of ViceNews.com and Vice on HBO, which have redefined news and current affairs for young people with documentaries and dispatches across a breadth of international issues, including the accession of ISIS in the Middle East, the impact of global warming and the refugee crisis.

Vice News Tonight and Vice on HBO will be available to UK and Irish audiences on Viceland UK, available on Sky channel 153 and NOW TV.